Beneath Heaven is Hell. Beneath Hell is Furnace. Furnace Penitentiary: An underground hellhole. A place of pure evil with walls soaked in blood. Murderous gangs and vicious guards rule the darkness. Horrific creatures steal people away in the dead of night. And the impossible - escape - is the only hope.

Steve's thoughts:

I’ll be honest, when I was first approached to review Lockdown, I wasn’t too sure. It really was not my typical type of book. I was a bit reluctant to accept it. Boy am I glad I did! This is a marvelous book. It had me going from the beginning all the way to the end. The tagline sums up the storyline nicely, “Beneath Heaven is Hell. Beneath Hell is Furnace.” Furnace is a prison for the most troubled youth. It was created after the “Summer of Slaughter” when the youth gangs went wild. It is a horrible place with horrible, vicious creatures running it. Alex Sawyer is sent to Furnace for a crime he didn’t commit and this is the only thing that keeps him going. The story centers on Alex, his cellmate Donovan and a few others. The characters are written very well. The dialog is clever and exposes the reader to the character's personalities. Now I will not say this was a fun read because it is a pretty harsh environment and full of boys that will do anything to get ahead and survive, as well as the most evil group of guards that you will ever see. While after the first couple chapters the setting is confined to Furnace and the routine day to day is pretty mundane, the story never drags, there is always action and excitement. What drives this book is the interaction between the characters, which the Furnace itself is one of the main characters that makes this story compelling. What are the guards, the creatures with the gas masks, the Warden? Where did they come from? This is the mystery that really drives Lockdown and while you learn some of the secrets you are left wanting more. I can’t wait to read the next book Solitary to hopefully learn a little more about this place called Furnace and its inhabitants.

It's hard to say it this book is right for a 12 year old. Lockdown has intense situations and intense characters. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being like a Disney movie and 10 really violent, Steve said it's about a 7 or 8. He also said there is some strong language in it also. Steve would recommend it for an older young adult audience. However you know your child best and what he can handle. I hope this helps.

I am actually reding this book in school right now. Very interesting, but at the same time, very dark. I am currently in seventh grade and this book is fine. If you let your kid play call of duty or play any other games rated T or up, I would say that they know enough not to repeat any of the strong lanuguage found in this book. So pretty much, some violence, a cuss word here or there, it's iffy. It depends on your style of parenting.

It was absolutely great! It had many twists and turns, I kept trying to guess what was going to happen next, every time my predictions were wrong. This book was like nothing I've ever read before, it was unique and interesting. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good, suspenseful, adrenalin-packed thriller.